Diantha's Journey
by SingMeloetta
Summary: About 25 years before the events of Pokemon X and Y, a young Diantha started a journey through the Kalos region. This is the story of that journey.


Dianthia's Journey

Intro: "Hello! My name is Dianthia Ambrose. I am an eleven year old girl, who is leaving on a Pokémon journey of her very own tomorrow! I don't have any specific hopes or dreams of my own that I want to reach for yet, but one thing's for sure: If I ever become the champion of Kalos, I want to have a team just like my mom's, and maybe, just maybe, even be admired by Kalosians just enough to continue her legacy for her when I (hopefully) take her place as the champion of the Kalos region. I wonder what brand new friends I'll make while I'm off on my very own journey. I can't wait to find out for myself!"

Chapter 1: First Day, First Gym!

"Dianthia, time to get up!" My dad said, calling me down for breakfast. "You don't want to miss out on the chance to get your very first Pokémon, do you?" I jumped out of bed, changed into my brand new outfit, started eating, and ran out the door as fast as I could. "Good Morning!" My friend Claudette and my frenemy Emile were standing at my front door. My two neighbors and I went to our local professor's lab to get our very first Pokémon. "What do you think they'll be?" Claudette started the conversation. "Well duh, of course they'll be the normal 3! Chespin, Fenniken and Froakie." Before we knew it, as we were all excited, we got there. "Ahh, you three must all be here to get your first Pokémon. Am I correct on this matter?" "Yes!" We all said together as we went into his lab. Those weren't the normal starter trio of Chespin, Froakie, and Fenniken. They were an Aron, Larvitar and Ralts. "Alright, you can pick first, Claudette. Look at this Aron! Its big blue eyes are just so cute! I'm choosing you for sure!" "Now you can pick between Larvitar and Ralts, Émile. Ralts is way too girly, the boy scoffed appearing to be shunning the shy young Pokémon. That Larvitar on the other hand, with those black marks over its eyes, it looks ready to fight some criminals! Larvitar! Be my Pokémon!" "Alright, that means Dianthia gets the Ralts." "Come on little one, were going to have so much fun together!" I said, smiling at the small white Pokémon as it looked up and smiled back at me. "Everyone, I want you all to take your very own Pokédex, to help me learn more about the wonderful creatures we call Pokémon!" "Alright!" We hurried out the door with our Pokédexes and new Pokémon. I looked up. The sky was a beautiful shade of aqua. "So, we should probably get to know each other better first. I'm Dianthia. My dream is… well I don't really have one yet, to be honest." Ralt's face lit up. It seemed to know I was being truthful with it. "I hope I find one soon! But enough about me! Let's go!" It rode on my shoulder as we ran through fields with beautiful flowers of all different colors towards Santalune City. "Wow, this place looks beautiful. It's a shame that once we get the gym badge we won't even get to see it again until we get all eight gym badges. Hey, I just had a great idea! Ralts, do you mind getting on my shoulder? I want to take a picture of us at the beginning of our journey." I could tell she happily agreed by hopping on my shoulder. I took the picture immediately, as I wanted to get to the gym soon. Though I didn't know very much about battling yet, I knew Ralts only knew growl at first. Luckily, the professor taught it Echoed Voice so I would have something to use in battle so that I wouldn't just sit there for all of eternity. I trained to around the point where my Ralts learned Disarming Voice. "Alright," I took a deep breath in, a fist on my heart. "Ralts, I know this will be kind of hard, since according to this book my mom gave me before I left, Psychic types like you are weak to Bug types. But don't worry! I believe in myself- no, I believe in the both of us! And even if we don't win on the first try, we'll just have to keep on training and trying until we do!" I was about to take my first steps into the gym when all of a sudden I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Hey, hey, hey!" I turned around to see Claudette's smiling face, her Aron still on her shoulder. "I want to see how you battle! Please, before you challenge the gym, have a battle with me!" I agreed to her challenge, and the battle begun. "Aron! Use Mud Slap!" The small steel type Pokémon gathered mud on its hands and threw a punch at my Ralts. It hit hard, but it wasn't enough. "Ok, let's try out our new move! Use Disarming voice." Though my starter used the attack correctly it didn't seem to faze Aron. What type of Pokémon was Aron, anyway? I took out my Pokedex and it quickly started analyzing the creature. Aron is a steel and rock type Pokémon. So that's why it barely did anything, Fairy type moves like Disarming Voice aren't really effective against steel types like Aron. "Ok then, let's use Tackle, Aron!" It ran at its full speed towards the two of us, but Ralts got out of the way in the Knick of time. "Alright, Ralts use Echoed Voice!" This time, the move hit, and for a surprising amount of damage too. In fact, the Aron suddenly fainted. "Aron! Are you alright? Come on, let's go to a Pokémon center to get you all better." "We should go heal up to, right Ralts?" It simply smiled and nodded in agreement as the small white Pokémon hopped back in my bag. We were basically in and out of the Pokémon center in what felt like a few seconds. "Alright, now let's go beat that gym!" Many beautiful pictures of bug types were all over the walls. "Now, where's the gym leader… Whoa!" I nearly fell down, but grabbed hold of the silver ladder before my Pokémon journey managed to come to an early end. "Whoa… this place looks so pretty!" I was in the middle of a giant rainbow spider web. I walked over to trainer after trainer until the path I would take to get to the first gym leader that I would face in the Kalos region was clear. She opened her mouth with a smile, starting her pre-battle speech. "That determined expression… That glint in your eye that says you're up to the challenge… It's fantastic! Just fantastic! Is this your first time challenging a Gym? Fantastic! Whether it's the tears of frustration that follow a loss or the blossoming of joy that comes with victory… They're both great subjects for my camera! Fantastic! This'll be just fantastic! Now come at me! My lens is always focused on victory—I won't let anything ruin this shot!" "Surskit! I choose you!" The sky blue Pokémon who always appeared to be blushing appeared out of her first Pokéball. "Surskit, use Bubble!" Clear bubbles shot out of its antenna, popping all over Ralts. "Ralts, use Disarming Voice!" The swirls and hearts from the manifestation of her voice hit the Surskit, and to my surprise, it fainted. "Ok, that's one down, one to go." "Vivillion! I choose you!" She said, quickly throwing out a Vivillion with a meadow pattern (What? They fly by my window at my house all the time during the spring, Ok?) "Vivillion, let's start the second part of our battle of on the right foot! Start out with Tackle!" It tried to swoop in and knock it's head on my Ralts, but it missed. "Yes! Ok, Ralts, Disarming voice again!" Once again the pink swirls hit Vivillion. It barely lived. "So close, I can almost taste it!" "Alright, let's try a different style! Use Infestation!" Bunches of small, green dots flew towards my starter. It was super effective being a bug type move. I could tell that Ralts was extremely hurt by this move and I would be perfectly fine if she didn't hold out because of it. Luckily, it held out. It held out because it didn't want to go down. I could tell, that it would do anything to prevail. "Ralts," I smiled at it. "I believe in you!" I felt my heart's invisible but touchable rays extend out of me and close to her. Our bond was growing stronger. "You can do this, just one more shot should take it down! Use disarming voice!" For the third time in a row, Ralts' voice hit the bug Pokémon. In that moment, it was over. I had just one my first Gym Badge! "Yes! We did it!" Though it was tired, I knelt down and it gave me a playful high five. Ralts, I have a feeling this is the start of a connection like nothing else before! Now, let's get you to a Pokémon center! I said as it hurried bag into my pink bag. I walked a few streets south of the gym until I came across the Pokémon Center. "Hello, I would like to heal my Pokémon please." "Ok! Since I believe this is your first time at a Pokémon center, show me your trainer card please." I looked through my bag, quickly finding a card. "Wow, I didn't know that our very own divine champion, Madame Ambroise was so short and looked that young in real life!" I glanced back at the card to see what she was talking about. I had accidentally showed her my mom's trainer card. "Oh, I'm so sorry Nurse Joy!" I quickly fixed my mistake by pulling out my own trainer card, which was actually in the pocket of my shirt. "Ok, now that looks a lot more like you." She laughed, but not in a teasing sort of way. She put my Pokéball on the counter for a few seconds, and a white light enveloped it. Say, what are you doing with her old trainer card anyway? Nurse Joy spoke to me before my Ralts was healed. Well, she's actually my mom, and she gave me her old trainer card as a good luck charm. Oh, so you're the daughter of the popular movie star, Viollette Ambrose, Dianthia Ambrose. I never expected you'd be going on Pokémon of your very own already. Alright, your Pokémon is all healed. "Have a nice day, and we hope to see you again!" I walked out the door, anxious and excited to get to the city where the next gym was. Where is the next gym, anyway? I pulled out my Town Map, but then a strong breeze blew it out of my hands. I ran, trying to catch it. While I was running, I accidently tripped on a small Pokémon. I fell to the ground with a thump. I heard a trainer's voice and expected him to help me up, or at least apologize for his Larvitar. (Excuse me if I sounded spoiled there, but it's just common courtesy, you know?) "Hey weirdo, watch your step, would you!" I looked up to see my green haired rival, Emile. "You should know better than to just run over someone's Pokémon like that." "I'm so sorry for bumping into you like that, Larvitar." "First, you turned out to be a major klutz, and now you're talking to Pokémon? What a weirdo!" Emile jested and pointed at me. Luckily, no one in this town except for maybe the gym leader knew his name. "Hey, I don't think that's weird at all!" My other, much friendlier rival, Claudette noticed us out of the corner of her eye. "Here Dianthia, let me help you up. I think that was actually really sweet of her for apologizing like that, especially to a Pokémon of yours, Emily." She playfully teased him, but he looked annoyed nonetheless. "It's Émile! Can't you get the name of your future champion right?" "All I was doing was apologizing for stepping on it by accident." He rolled his eyes at me, as if his first message didn't get across clearly enough. "Anyways, you got a badge yet?" "Yes, yes I do." I replied with a smile, trying to sound as tough and as confident as he did. "Impressive!" He admitted, though not in a very proud way. "Maybe one day you'll have hope to catch up to my level someday," he bragged. My Ralts hid in my bag, sensing his snobbish and rude way of having a conversation with me. "Look at what you're doing, you're scaring my Ralts!" I scolded him, but he decided to mock me back. "Wow, your Pokémon is sure a chicken. With a Pokémon like that, I doubt you're going to even have a chance against the second gym leader, let alone the Elite 4 and the champion." "Hey! I heard that!" I scoffed at him, now getting myself angry. "Of course you did! That's the point of an insult, isn't it?" "I swear, someday, when I beat you in a Pokémon battle, it'll feel like it's you who doesn't stand a chance!" I saw him fade into the distance as he marched away from me. "I know that you and I both want to leave, but before we go, I feel like changing my style to match my mother's more formal and elegant appeal. After all, you never know. My mother told me that time flies by pretty quickly when you're on a journey, so any day now we might become the champions. I say we, because we're doing this together. If I ever make it big and become a famous trainer and movie star like my mother one day, it's all because of you and the other Pokémon I'm going to catch in the future, right?" We walked into Santalune City's Boutique which specialized in selling hats. I bought a beautiful looking white one, and put the white sunglasses that my mother gave to me in my pink bag. "Come on Ralts, let's go on with our journey and head too…" my mind was drawing a blank, so I grabbed my town map, which was stuck on the light post above my head. "Cyllage City! That's where the next gym is!" I ran ahead, my emotions full of excitement, competition and passion. Well, the next town is pretty far away, but there really isn't any point in turning back when we've done everything there is to do for a long while. "Do you want to set up a camp for tonight?" She nodded and started to collect several small sticks for firewood. I started to set up our tent. It wasn't luxurious or anything, just a plain blue tent. When Ralts came back from collecting firewood, I stumbled over the side of our tent on accident, both ripping our shelter and collapsing right above Ralts. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!" I helped it out of the wreckage of our tent and simply laid out a sleeping bag. Here. You can sleep with me, because I screwed up our tent. It got in the side of the sleeping bag and laid down. I let out a quiet sigh and started talking to myself. "That's what you always do Dianthia, screw things up for other people and Pokémon." My Ralts suddenly looked up at me with a confused look on its face, as if it was trying to say "What? You've helped me, haven't you?" I dried the few tears that had started to stream down my face. Thanks, Ralts. Now I was talking to Pokémon again. Great, just great. Ok, tomorrow, we're going to pass Emilie on his league quest by getting two gym badges! I said, my eyes finally starting to slowly but surely droop shut for the night. The funny thing was, the harder I tried, and the more I failed to get some sleep that night. I wanted to get up and move around, but I didn't want to wake up Ralts' who was somehow already fast asleep

Chapter 2: My Mysterious New Partner!

My Ralts and I were both up (In fact, I probably stayed up the whole night because this was just so exciting and I couldn't wait.), awake and ready to get on with our travels, bright and early in the morning, planning on starting our journey towards Cyllage and my second gym battle, when all of a sudden we saw an absolutely beautiful girl wearing some sort of school uniform, in the same elegant school girl style I had begun to like to try and perfect. She seemed to be looking around the area for someone, so I politely asked if she needed help with her search. When I asked her, I must have spooked her a little bit, as the periwinkle headband she was wearing flopped over her face. Oh I'm sorry, did I startle you? I asked politely as humanly possible, not wanting to screw up an introduction with such an elegant and professional looking girl. No, not at all! She smiled back, pushing some of her flowing brown hair out of her face as she blushed a cute shade of pink. I then realized she looked a lot like me, but dressed in different colors. Who are you looking for? Her crystal blue eyes darted upwards towards me and she realized that she had found me. Oh my goodness it's you! It's really, the actual real life you! I, pondering why in the world I would have a fan, assumed she had confused me with my much more famous mother. "I saw your gym battle with Viola yesterday! You're such an amazing trainer!" Oh no, you must be thinking about my mom, famous actress and our current champion, Viollette Ambrose. I quickly took my mother's trainer card out of my bag so she could take a look and I could prove my theory to be correct. Nope! I was definitely on the lookout for you! Why on earth would you try to look for me? Because, Ambrose-senpai, I look up to you. You look up to me? But I'm not that good of a trainer, after all I've only won two battles. Well, you seem to already know that my name's Dianthia, so what's yours. My name's Odette. Oh, so you're named like the princess from that fancy ballet, Swanna Lake. Anyways, is it ok, if…? I…um… maybe… if I travel with you on your journey to see how you battle? You know, so I could get some advice on how to be more like you. I could see her fidgeting around awkwardly and nervously, hoping for a positive reply. Yeah, sure! After all the more the merrier, right? I smiled, giving her a thumbs up as a sign that I meant what I was saying. Thank you so much, Ambrose-senpai! She smiled with both shock, thankfulness, pleasure, and relief. No problem! I'm sure we'll get a long great! But first, I need to tell you that you can now drop the honorifics. After all, you could probably beat me in a battle anytime, so I'm not really your senpai, or at least not a very good one. Oh- ok then, Dianthia she once again turned into her awkward state. We walked together, introducing ourselves to each other the whole walk. I found out that she liked fairytales and elegant clothing, and that Pretty School Girl clothing was only some of her casual clothes. Boy oh boy, if those were only her casual clothes, I couldn't wait to see the rest of what her wardrobe had to offer to the eyes. I also discovered that she also had a Ralts that she adopted from the Pokémon Daycare. We talked about ourselves until we decided to stop at a lake near Cyllage Beach and set up our camp for the day. As the two of us and our two Ralts started to sit around the big and blazing campfire, she started singing to herself. She was a really good singer, just like my mom was. My whole family says that I had inherited my mom's singing gift too. A little while after she started getting to the lower notes in the song, what was once her singing quietly alone became a duet of my mom's famous yet new pop song, searching for your Light? That was really good! We both complimented each other at the same time. You have a really nice sounding singing voice you know. With a singing voice like that, you should really consider going to an idol training academy and becoming an idol when you get older. Performing Idols sure are some very lucky people, because they get to wear all these super-duper pretty clothes when their on the stage singing, right? Yeah! I responded, feeling like a genius for a change. My mom wears really elegant clothes all the time when she does a movie or dances on those shiny stages. Hmm… Now that I think about it, maybe I should. But at the same time, if we both stood on the idol stage at the same time, we would be considered rivals. You know Odette, You make me smile because you have such a soft and cute voice, plus to go along with that, your personality is really sweet yourself. I sensed my Holocaster ringing and vibrating silently in my pocket. Oh, right, it must be time for my dad's daily Holocaster Call. Hey Di! How's your journey serving you so far? Would you give it a five star rating? Why yes, I indeed would, sir. We both chuckled at the joke that only a family like ours would understand. My dad was the owner of a hotel in Lumiose, so he cracked jokes like this all the time, and I played along. I've already won my first Gym badge, and I've already made a new friend too! Dad, this is my new friend and travel partner, Odette. Hello, Mr. Ambrose. She let out a small smile and waved quietly. My dad let out a shocked gasp the moment he laid his eyes upon my brand new best friend. What is it dad, did one of your employees burn something in the kitchen again? No, it's just that, Odette, you remember how your parents were the idol duo, Swan Lake, right? And how they were so dedicated to their work, they named you Odette in honor of their unit? You also know that my wife and your parents were rivals when Swan Lake was at the peak of its popularity, right?" She simply blushed a little and nodded in reply. Well it turns out- oh, the battery on this thing's already dying for the night, and I'll tell both of you tomorrow night, Di. He hung up first, as the screen automatically went in to standby mode on my end. I wonder whatever happened to your parents, Odette. Well, the truth is… please don't hate me or think I'm a freak forever, but I'm actually an orphan. What! But the way my dad talked about your parent's makes it feel like their actually here. They're not dead, they both abandoned me for work purposes when I turned five. Since I'm an only child, I've been living alone in an empty house for the past 9 years. Wait, but aren't you only like eleven? Yeah she started to say her age in response to my unfinished question, I'm only twelve years old, only a year older than you. I tried to hold back my small tears that wanted to drip down my face. After all, she was such a happy and sweet person, but in reality, her backstory seemed so sad and depressing. Wait, if your parents were both idols and abandoned you because of it, why don't you hate idols? Because, I think becoming the top coordinator and doing the Romance Story special appeal, Swan will help them find me so that we can all happily be reunited and return together as a family. But that's most likely just wishful thinking, after all, they have been gone for almost a decade now. I'll probably have to try to reach for my dream sometime after your journey is over though. What? Why wait for me to finish up on my dream? Can't you just get on the path that you want to take while I'm on my journey so we could live our dreams together as a duo Because I'd probably have to move to either Hoenn or Sinnoh to fulfill my dream, and since you're the first person who's ever wanted to become my friend, I can't leave you hanging alone in the middle of your journey right in the middle of it. You mean, that even though your super excited and want to chase after an important dream of your very own right away, you're going to stay with me, even though it's going to hold you back from accomplishing your hope and dream of becoming the best idol in the world in the long run? She nodded happily, giving off a quiet, almost princess-like honest to Arceus sincere vibe. I thanked her and hugged my new best friend so tightly that her face almost turned navy blue. Besides, I want to see how your journey ends. Stories like this excite me. I want to see all so it happen right in front of me! I could feel the fact that this was going to be the beginning of a magnificent and gloriously perfect friendship. Although I was happy that she admitted she'd be sticking around, that made me wonder about a lingering question in my head even harder. The burning, path changing, maybe even life changing question was: What was my dream? What did I want to do to bring positive change while I was still on my journey? When would I finally figure out what I wanted to do to impact this world? Would I run towards it, or would I just give out and fade into the crowd. No, I would never do that in a million years. Life is precious after all, so we all need to learn to use it wisely! I cleverly snuck a quote from my mom into my own thoughts, which was useless as no one could hear them. To think that I just met Odette today and the path she was going to take was clear, but when would my path finally show which direction I was headed for? Hey Dianthia, I have to warn you about something. Yeah? What is it Odette? I asked, my curiosity heightened. Well, I kind of sort of have this mental disorder called DCA Disorder. Oh yeah Desperately Craves Affection Disorder, right? Her eyes lit up. You know a little bit about it? I nodded. There once was this one time where one of the guests at my dad's hotel had that disorder and got a little, umm… how should do I phrase this the right way… "Crazy" with another guest. Let's just say there was a divorce and somebody in prison after that incident happened. But I don't think you're that desperate for affection right? Please tell me you're not. Oh I'm not, I only have a mild case of the disorder after all. I'm not a psychopath. Good. I can at least understand why you might have been diagnosed with the disorder, Odette. Your parents did abandon you when you were three years old, after all. I could completely see where the doctor that had diagnosed her was going with the mental disorder. After that, my eyes finally said it was time to start drifting for the night. We said our goodnights and I rolled over in my sleeping bag and then I looked at the gate ahead. The big grey number carved into the top of the gate was a nine. Route 9, to be exact.

Chapter 3: Really Digging these Fossils!

We both awoke with a long stretch at coincidentally the exact same time, so it seemed like we were mimicking each other and saw the same gate we fell asleep by the night before. That's good, none of us sleepwalk. Well, why don't we start today off right by walking through that gate together? Alright! We were just about to sprint excitedly through the gate when my stomach growled loudly. Maybe we should have breakfast first. Good idea! I girlishly chuckled and started getting out our picnic blanket. Odette got out the Pokémon food for our two Ralts. After we were all stuffed from breakfast, we decided to get on with our day and hit the road. We quickly dashed through the white entrance, soon arriving in- a rocky path, connecting to the city. Oh joy. Two veteran trainers met us at the exit of the gate. Hello, do you need help on how to ride a Ryhorn? No thanks! Odette interrupted me while I was asking for help, hopping up on to one of the rocky gray Pokémon. Come on, you can ride with me, she said putting her hand out and lifting me up slowly. Are you sure you know how to ride a Ryhorn? She nodded. Oh really, then who taught you how? My older brother, Cygne. Wait when we first became friends, didn't you say that your last name was Blanc? I could see the back of her head nod in response as she carefully guided the Ryhorn through the opining parts of the path. Wait, so would that make your older brother the world famous Ryhorn racer Cygne Blanc? I said, shocked and excited. The one and only! I turned my head to the front and saw how we were about to crash into three square shaped boulders. Oh no, how am I ever going to get to the gym now? Alright, hold on tight, Dianthia! I had no time to wonder what she was doing as she ordered the rental Pokémon to use Head-butt on the large rock to smash it into small pieces that it could step over. Within about 20 minutes, we made it to the end of the ride. We entered the small cavern on the side of the mountain and saw the crystals glowing. The path was extremely narrow, so we had to unfortunately get smashed in a single file line. We went down many wrong ends, and ended up running into many, many different wild Pokémon. Still, none of them had the right aura for me. Oh come on, why can't I find any Pokémon that I want! I've been a trainer for three days and I still only have Ralts! She was getting a little upset over her lack of any captures. When we finally got to the end of the small path, the cave opened up a lot. We heard someone screaming for help, so we instinctively ran all over the suddenly open cave to search for the person who needed assistance. When we finally did find him, he was getting viscously attacked by a horde of Geodude. Odette and I decided to step in and defend the man. She sent out her Ducklett, while I sent out my Ralts. Use Bubble Beam! The blue duckling Pokémon then rapidly fired bubbles from her beak, trapping the Geodude inside of them. I then used echoed voice to pop the bubbles, making the rock Pokémon instantly faint from the contact with the ground. Th-thank you girls, both of you. He stuttered in appreciation and fear from the previous events. I don't know how to properly repay you for saving me, but while you're here, you should each take one of these fossils. I can't quite remember what they'd turn into if you'd take them to the lab where I work, but if you'd take them there and find out, that'd be great. The man then got up out of the corner and sprinted back to the cave's entrance, not seeing the closer way out. Now that we've finally managed to cross this gosh darn cave, alright now let's get going again to Cyllage City, where I'm absolutely, one hundred percent certain that I'm going to win my next gym badge! We ran out of the caves other, much closer exit, to find a place where we could possibly manage to actually succeed in getting some shut eye for the night. We both groaned and complained with disappointment, as the exit we went through led us back to route 9, and Ryhorn riding was dangerous for children, especially at this time of night, plus, to get to the nearest Pokémon center, you had to ride a Ryhorn. We woke up super early to continue our hike back to the entrance. After what seemed like hours and hours' worth of continuous walking, we finally reached the next Pokémon center in Amberette Town. Because both we and our Pokémon were much too tired to continue traveling to the next Gym for the day, we decided to finally sleep in a Pokémon center for a night.

Chapter 4: Don't Forget Amberette!

We woke up in the wooden Pokémon center bedroom and began stretching our muscles so they would wake up and nothing would be awkward about our movements for the day. After all, everybody knows that when you're on a journey, you can't even turn back without moving. Ahh… that was a surprisingly really nice and relaxing night sleep. In fact, it's the first one I've ever had in a Pokémon center. Speaking of which, now that we've finally gotten some sleep, do you want to go to the Amberette fossil lab and ask if we can use their revival machine to revive these fossils that scientist gave us the other day? We paused our conversation to get dressed for the day and then to enjoy our breakfast. After all, Odette started our earlier discussion up again, you said it yourself, and you do need to consider catching some more Pokémon for your upcoming gym battle. I've slept on the decision on whether or not to start catching any new Pokémon for the match and decided that I'll be perfectly fine with Ralts. You mean that you're perfectly confident with your Ralts in a one on two gym battle? Yeah! If my Ralts can do it against Viola' and her bug type Pokémon, then I'm one hundred percent worry free about Gym leader Grant and his rock types. Besides, when has something powerful ever come out of a rock? No, don't say rock types, because you and I both know that those Pokémon only have rock like properties, and they are actually not actual rocks. What if I told you that inside those rocks are the pre-evolutions of Pokémon that the champion, or your mom, uses? Are they really? I said excited and hyper, suddenly considering reviving the fossils. Well, I don't know that for sure yet, but last night while you were asleep, I snuck out my Pokénav and did some research on those fossils, and the fossil that the man gave to me looked a lot like part of the sail of an Aurous could be stuck in there. I also snuck a peek at your fossil, and it looks awfully similar to the jawline of a Tyrunt. Well, that would be a good idea to revive both of them before the fight so that I could already have three Pokémon and be half way done with catching the ones that I want to train, but that would also include a lot of training. Plus, it would feel, kind of unnatural to catch two rare Pokémon that rapidly and so quickly that I'd already have half of a team, and it also seems really unfair to other trainers, because I don't really want to rush my journey so fast that I barley remember any of it before the improbable part where I become the champion and take over the league, you know? What's wrong, Dianthia? It seems like just a few minutes ago, you seemed so confident, maybe even over confident about your next gym match, and now it's like you're under confident, like this is the first time you've ever fought against a gym leader, or maybe even had a battle with anyone. But it's not, I've had a bunch of battles with a lot of different kinds of trainers ever since I left on my journey and became a trainer. Then tell me why you seem so nervous. I know I've only known you for a few days now, but I've never seen you so nervous before. So, since I'm not a trainer, and you are, it must be because of an upcoming battle. Am I right about that, at least? I nodded, sitting down on a nearby bench to tell her what I was so tense about. Well, the reason why I'm suddenly so scared about this battle is that I remembered a quote that my mom told me the day before I left on my own journey around Kalos. So all that's bringing you down is a quote? Why that's such a silly thing to get worked up about, Dianthia! No, the bad part that I'm really starting to realize and get worried and worked up about is what the quote said. What did it say exactly? If you can remember all of it, please tell me, I would love to hear it! It said "If you think about it, A Pokémon journey is a lot like a rollercoaster, it has its fast and thrillingly exciting ups, and it's sometimes long and scary downs, but the only thing that matters is that you hang on until the end of the ride." So what exactly does a rollercoaster have to do with your gym battle with Grant? Because, since I experienced one of those fast and thrilling ups with my battle with Viola, I'm scared that I'll start to experience one of those long and scary downs with Grant. Well, remember the rest of the quote, and just hang on until it's over! After all even when you never expect it and it comes out of absolutely nowhere, life, like roller-coasters, can always manage to throw you for a surprise loop! Yeah! Your right! Now that my heart is going for the goal again, I can still tell you that I'm absolutely positively a hundred percent sure that Ralts can handle the whole battle all by herself!

Chapter 5: Cliff Badges and Cliff Climbing!

I woke Odette up from her peaceful sounding sleep when the sun had already risen and we could both see the cave we needed to enter to continue on with my goal of becoming the Pokémon League champion. Oh I'm sorry, I must have slept later than you! Thank you for waking me, Dianthia. That's odd, usually, I would be really angry if someone woke me up while I was sleeping. She giggled, seemingly getting the supposed but not meant joke. We fought as many trainers as we did hordes of Zubat on the way through the dark yet short cave path. Wow! We both said, looking out into the beautiful morning ocean view. The sun was shining on the ocean and you could see the Luvdisc jumping out and back into the water. I ran down the bike path to find the entrance to the gym, eager to take it on so I could get a head start against my rival in our race for gym. Wait, where in the world was the entrance to this gym anyway? Hah! You mean you still can't find the entrance to the gym? I heard an unmistakably annoying voice, but I didn't like that voice one bit. Come on loser, just look up! Odette turned around to look the boy that the voice belonged too. Oh, Dianthia, who's this pretty maiden you've taken with you on your journey? I call dibs on her hand in marriage! He clasped her hands, as he had hearts in his eyes. You really wouldn't be interested in me, she swiftly rejected the young trainer's offer, and he blushed in shame in response to that refusal. Well, could I at least get your name? Odette. Odette Blanc, if you wanted to include my last name. Well Odette, my name's Émile. My Holocaster number is 734-389. Call me! He made a phone symbol with his hands and put it up by his ear as he walked away. He looked away from my partner and turned to look at me. His expression changed towards me when he talked too. Well, smell you later, loser! You better be ready, 'because the next time we meet, I'm going to win a battle between the both of us! He ran, his newly caught Meinfoo next to him. Well I'll show you! I'm going to win this badge easy peasy lemon squeezey! Dianthia, are you sure about that? She said, honestly concerned and nervous about my upcoming gym battle with Gym Leader Grant. I mean, you said it yourself, your only Pokémon is Ralts, and I know you two have been training hard for the fight, but are you're sure that you're prepared to face him in a gym battle? Yeah! I'm ready for anything! Now where is the entrance to the gym? I know that he said that we should just look up, but I still don't see any entrance way. After a good ten minutes of walking up the steep bicycle path, we finally reached the entrance of the gym. I tightened my fists. I really was ready for anything that came my way during the gym battle. I battled hiker after hiker. I won, but Ralt's health was so low after every single battle that I had to return to the Pokémon center after every fight. "So, are you still feeling as confident as you were this morning? Or have you decided to give up for the day?" "Give up? I'll only give up when Spoink fly! And whose side are you on anyway?" Silly Dianthia, Spoink can't fly, and according to my Pokedex, they can't fly even if they evolve into a Grumpig. I was using an expression. It means that I'll never give up until the impossible happens. Now come on, that was the last fight before the gym leader, and now my team is all healed to a perfect level, so let's go so I can crush the gym leader! Dianthia, it may just be me and all, but doesn't that seem a little harsh? I mean, I know that you want to defeat the gym and earn the badge, but don't you think that crushing him is a bit on the extreme side? I let out a sigh of slight annoyance. Odette, that's just another one of my expressions. It means that I'll defeat that gym leader and earn his badge, no matter what it takes. The only exception being if I end up cheating, because then my mom would never let me step foot into another gym again if I ever cheated during a match. Anyways, enough with the yapping, let's go get a move on and start getting into the action! We both sprinted back up the mountain pathway towards the gym entrance, and slowly climbed up the colorful red blue and yellow rock walls until we reached the top of the cliff where the gym leader was waiting. Odette sat on a brand new looking wooden bench looking out over a beautiful clear waterfall in the gym while I was on the other side of the battle field. He put his left hand on his hip and then gave his welcoming speech. I've been waiting in eager anticipation! What have I been waiting for? For a worthy challenger to appear! It's quite an achievement to have climbed all the way up here. Very impressive, actually! I have a feeling that our battle will turn out to be worth the wait! I hope you'll show me that your skill as a Trainer surpasses even mine." With that, he sent out his first Pokémon, a Tyrunt. Alright Ralts, I know you can do this, because of the fact that I believe in you! I sent out my Ralts. Though my small white Pokémon looked inferior to the rocky young dragon, I knew for a fact that my Ralts was just as determined as I was to win the second badge. Ok Tyrunt, Rock tomb! It generated a pile of rocks and forcefully flung them on to the ground. Although Ralts looked hurt and I was nervous, I quickly saw away to turn the battle around for the better. Ralts, use Disarming Voice! I had quickly come up with that strategy because I then remembered that Tyrunt was a dragon type. It only seemed to do half the damage I expected it to do. No, halt the damage everyone in the gym had expected it to do. I knew that my Ralts wasn't a weak Pokémon because of all of the training I did with it in preparation for this big moment, so my question to the world is, why didn't this supposedly super effective do much damage? Ok Ralts! Jump up above and use Echoed Voice when you're on its center! Alright Tyrunt, I have an idea! Lift your head all the way up high and use bite on its arm! It lifted its head and my Ralts nearly fell in until my opponent's Tyrunt bit down on my Pokémon's arm like it was snack time for the fossil Pokémon. The pain of the bite was apparently too much for my Ralts to handle, so it fainted. Ralts, I bowed my head in both defeat and shame, return. A red energy encapsulated my Pokémon and brought it back and sealed it in its Pokéball to rest. Alright challenger, send out your next Pokémon, please. "I-I don't have one. I know it was my choice to not capture anymore for the time being, but I felt guilt and sadness because I, unlike most trainers at this point in their journeys, didn't have the choice on whether or not to continue the fight. It felt like I really was having one of those down moments in life. I was out of Pokémon, and the battle was over. He gave his victory speech. "Do not give up. That is all there really is to it. The most important lessons in life are simple." Although it was a short victory speech from his end, that was very excellent advice. "Don't give up, because it's all going to work out sooner or later", I whispered playfully into the palms of my hands, copying his words. I then laughed at myself, realizing that the thing I had just done was useless at least, for me it was. I was me, after all! Of course someone like me would never give up! I didn't have a choice. I had to keep going, to make absolutely one hundred percent sure I eventually made it all the way to the champion's throne and made the next generation in my mother's legacy a reality. We walked out of the gym quickly sprinting and with me looking down and trying my best to avoid eye contact with anyone, disappointed in myself because of my loss and my apparently poor decision not to add anything else to my team. It's alright Dianthia, you can't win them all. Odette spoke, putting her hand on my shoulder apparently trying to calm me down. Well I have to win them all! I snapped, running ahead of her. I kept running so quickly that I was surprised if she was even still a block away from where I was. Dianthia, please, please, please tell me what's up! I groaned but then agreed. I'm the daughter of the champion, and the champion is never supposed to lose at battles, and so that should apply to me to right? Dianthia, you've got to understand. Even though your mom's the champion, you're still a beginning trainer. There's no way you won't lose at least once to someone along the road. After all, what are the odds that your mom has never lost a battle to anyone in her life? Not very likely, I sighed, starting to get the point of her lecture. But of course, I'll still become the new champion before long! My partner just nodded and gave a slight grin as we walked on, continuing my journey to sit on the champion's throne.

Chapter 6: The Shy Ice Type

As I woke up from my sleep for the day and remembered yesterday's failed battle with Grant. As I looked back on the past day, my mind trailed off to wondering where I could find more new Pokémon to add to my team, as Odette had given me that advice. All of a sudden, I remembered Odette mentioning a fossil lab back in the Amberette Town. But then again, to get to it, we'd have to walk all the way back through the cave first. I told Odette about my idea and she would be happy to go back with me. We rode on the Ryhorn again and started our (probably days worth) of backtracking in the cave. We wondered through all of the twist and turns the cave had to offer, even getting lost on multiple occasions.I heard a Pokémon's cry come from an opining in the cave's wall up head. When we entered that section of the cavern, we entered to see it was frozen solid. "Whoa! What Pokémon could've been responsible for this cool place?" I heard Odette's face palm echo across the cavern due to my incredibly- and purposefully bad pun. "Well, I don't know, but it sure is cold in here!" "Odette, don't you have a jacket you could wear until we're out of here?" She shook her head. "I couldn't afford one. I used to have one, but I had to sell it to get Pokeballs." Aur! As we heard that cry, we saw a light blue blur flash across the ice. "It sounds kind of scared." Odette warned me, but I decided all it needed was a little company. As soon as I tried to approach it however, it ran behind a pillar of ice. The cuteness of its big blue eyes made me want to capture it even more. Since my previous experience of chasing after it didn't work, I would try luring it out with simple kindness. "Hi, my name's Dianthia. What's yours?" Its legs started to shake with nervousness. Since it wouldn't tell me its name directly I whipped out my Pokedex and read information about it. Oh, so you're an Amuara huh? So cute! Can we please, please, please be friends? I promise we'll be best friends! All of a sudden, it looked up into my eyes, and looked enchanted, like it was noticing something in my eyes that it had never seen before. What is it, Amuara? It suddenly jumped up on me, like it was trying to hug me or something. So…. I awkwardly suggested, hoping it would let go before I fell over… is that a yes to my let's be friends suggestion? The adorable ice type Pokémon nodded as it started to battle me. It started out with Powder Snow and then Ice Beam, which made really pretty snowflakes swirl across the field. Ralts, use Disarming Voice. Instead of the pink hearts and yellow lines, rainbow colored leaves shot from Ralts' hands. "Umm, that's not Disarming Voice." "Ralts learned a new move called Magical Leaf!" Alright! Let's practice that move by using Magical Leaf one more time! Ralts quickly flung the leaves at her. "Amuara's weak! Now's your chance to throw a Pokeball!" I hurled the Pokeball forcefully at Amuara and then crossed my fingers, because my mother always said that catching a Pokémon is a game of friendship and luck. I looked on as the ball wiggled in place. "One… two… three! Yes!" I raised my arm up to the sky, the filled Pokeball in my grip. "I did it! I finally caught a second Pokémon!" I let the Amuara out of its Pokéball and began to introduce myself, like I planned on doing with all of my pokemon. After I felt like it had got to know me better, we took the trip to Cyllage for the last time. As soon as we got back to our room in the Pokémon center, I flopped down on the bed, absolutely exhausted from the hike. "Tomorrow, I'm thinking of challenging the gym." "Really? Because I think you should catch some more Pokémon before you do that, to be honest. I then looked at her like she was crazy. I wasn't trying to be mean, but we had just taken a day long hike just to catch a second Pokemon. "Just kidding. Good night, Di." "Night Odette."


End file.
